Too bad Plant didn't have either Dave Edmunds, a close friend of his, or Buddy Miller (whose albums Plant has previously appeared on), produce him. They both make great, organic sounding recordings, especially Buddy. |
Haven't heard it but on some of his albums he has used T-Bone Burnett and the sound is as bdp24 describes.
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Yes the sound on the cd anyway is not clean at all kind of muddled together. I wish it was cleaner too.
I wonder if the lp is different. |
supposedly he produced it himself, but it reminds me of a daniel lanois record--sorta veiled, gauzy and "atmospheric". i thought it sounded good, though the songs aren't as distinctive as his "raising sand" and his voice has clearly lost the upper register.
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As I understand it they used multiple tracks for the vocals. I wonder if that's what is contributing to the poor mix. Not sure what they did on the instrumentals but as I stated, I really like the music but certainly don't care for how it was laid down.
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I own the lp. I understand what you're saying about the engineering. Overall, I don't think it's a bad sounding record..it's not devoid of all sense of space or depth. I agree with MF on the rating of 8/8. I do think I like his last lp slightly better.
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Man, what is with Daniel Lanois? The productions of his sound like they were done at the bottom of an empty well. I hate what he did to Dylan on Time Out Of Mind. Did his success influence the sound engineers now try to get? pops, I really like T-Bone's production, especially musically. His Truth Decay album (Takoma Records---be sure and get the LP mastered and pressed by Chrysalis Records. The mastering engineer who did the Allegiance Records version unknowingly cut off everything after the "false" ending in "Driving Wheel"!---the coolest song on the album, a Rockabilly) is really, really good. Not much of a singer, but a master of the song. |
tbone's (self titled) record, "t-bone burnett," recorded live in the studio, is one of the best-sounding records i've heard. as for daniel lanois, i generally agree with bdp--he tends to cover everything with a brooding murk that often ill-suits artists such as dylan. i do really like his emmylou harris and peter gabriel records, however, though he gets big demerits for doing u2.
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Ah yeah lj, T-Bone's s/t album on MCA is fantastic both musically and sonically. I used that album as demo material for years. Did you know it's a digital recording? Proves it's possible! His Truth Decay album is great too, but very different musically---more singer/songwriter to the s/t album's Bluegrassiness. The Audiogon dictionary doesn't consider that a word. ;-) |
i just loaded up truth decay, which i hadn't heard in ages--vg disc, actually--boomerang and quicksand are great songs. actually my fave tbone is the ep, trap door, which has five excellent originals + a killer cover of "diamonds are a girls best friend. "
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Would Dylan's "Oh Mercy" be as great as it was without Daniel Lanois' production? How about "Teatro" by Willie Nelson or "Wrecking Ball" by EmmyLou Harris? There are more--like "Achtung Baby" but I'll stop there.
Most of the time--I look forward to seeing his name attached to a project. |
Oh yeah lj, Trap Door may be my fave of T-Bone's too. I got to see him perform solo in the Sony Records office in L.A. in the late 90's, just him with an acoustic guitar. Intimate! Sam Phillips was with him, but didn't sing any harmonies. I didn't like his later records, on which he pretty much stopped singing melodies, just reciting words instead. After his own records stopped selling, he got into producing others, at which he is real good. |
@gpgr4blu ,
I agree that DL has been involved with some of the great recordings...
I think @bdp24 comes from a different perspective that while, may seem harsh on DL's total output, and may have a personal sentiment from a musician's perspective..doesn't disqualify his basic premise that landmark lps could have been much better that DL was involved with.
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Slaw:
Agreed. Lanois has a unique style that does not always work. When it does, it can be very effective. |
I will say that I met Daniel (I know the guitarist in Henry Rollins’ road band, whose own band did some work with DL), and he was a very cool guy, no attitude what-so-ever. There are plenty of guys I can’t say that about. He did an instore performance at Amoeba Music in Hollywood (employing the aforementioned guitarist and his band as his), and was helping them set up their gear. A lot of very successful and famous musicians would not do that, believe me. |
gpgr4blu - I agree with you that when Daniel Lanois is behind the boards that the result has at times been simply amazing. The records / discs that you noted are definitely on my desert island list. I bought Emily Lou Harris's disc years ago and like really good artists as she is ......I at first didn't like it. The I guess I grew up and then one day a few years back listened to it and was simply amazed how really good it was and she was. Same with Willie's ; '' Teatro '' .....'' The Maker '' just blows me away which didn't Lanois write that song ? |
"Oh Mercy"
I have multiple copies..
What A GREAT RECORDING! On each and every pressing I own>
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Yes garebear. Lanois wrote that one. You seem to appreciate the same work and same albums as i do. They are all flat out great songs and great production. All among my favs. |
falconquest
I am certain that the multi-tracks were used to get around Plant's aging vocal abilities. He no longer has an extended vocal range.
Happy Listening!
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